


One of the Impossible Places

by glim



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Community: summerpornathon, Dreams, M/M, Team Gluttony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-14
Updated: 2011-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-22 14:34:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/pseuds/glim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Arthur always knows, though he tries to forget; awareness creeps at the edge of his thoughts, ripples between his senses, whispers to him that only his mind could hold so many impossible people and places. </i></p>
            </blockquote>





	One of the Impossible Places

"I'm dreaming," Arthur says and his voice rings through the trees as if from a distant place.

Merlin laughs, but Arthur knows. Arthur always knows, though he tries to forget; awareness creeps at the edge of his thoughts, ripples between his senses, whispers to him that only his mind could hold so many impossible people and places.

Sunlight filters through the green canopy, Merlin's laughing and smiling, and all Arthur knows is that he's dreaming.

~

"We never did this."

"Shh." Merlin covers Arthur's mouth with damp words and reassuring kisses. "We'll do it now, okay?"

Arthur's lips move against Merlin's, murmuring assent, ignoring the whisper at the back of his mind telling him, no, he's not a boy again and no, this isn't the forest he remembers from his youth, this isn't the Merlin he remembers.

He kisses Merlin and draws Merlin's breath into his lungs, lest he slip away.

~

"I wish you'd come home."

Merlin peers at Arthur over his shoulder and frowns. "I'm here now."

Arthur shakes his head, catches the scent of apples and fresh water.

Before Merlin can say another word, Arthur kisses Merlin's shoulder and noses into the soft hair behind his ear, he presses his lips to each notch of Merlin's spine, following its curve until his mouth meets the dip at its base.

"I wish you'd never left."

~

Standing in a circle of stones, Arthur swears he hears Merlin's voice on the wind. He turns, feels the cold air slip between the chinks in his armor, and tries to remember what Merlin looks like, what he sounds like, how his eyes turn from blue to gold as the sun sets behind him.

He drives his sword into a stone and leaves his armor behind, tasting rust on his tongue, and seeks Merlin out.

~

Arthur finds Merlin where he always finds Merlin: beyond the stones and streams, deep in a forest only familiar through the map of his dreams. Without uttering a word, he kneels, as King of Camelot, unarmed, before the boy who saved his life so many years ago.

With grace Merlin accepts the fealty offered both to him and to the magic he renewed throughout the land. He kneels down in front of Arthur to touch his lips to Arthur's and rest his hand over Arthur's heart.

Arthur leans into the kiss and feels the world melt into blue, green, and gold around them. His body yearns towards Merlin's, then twines around his when they sprawl naked on the grass. First Merlin's hands, then his mouth, move over Arthur's body, a kind of reverence in his touch as he strokes the flat of Arthur's stomach and kisses between his thighs.

When Arthur nudges at Merlin's side with his foot, Merlin looks up and smiles, eyes bright, hair rumpled, the curve of his shoulder pale against the dark green of the forest floor. During all the nights and years that Arthur had dreamt of Merlin, his lust had ebbed and flowed; now it swells, and sluices though him, a fluid warmth that feels like liquid light.

The sensation builds as the touches become a blur, Merlin's wet mouth over Arthur's skin and his quick, strong fingers on Arthur's erection, and builds further with the flick of Merlin's tongue over Arthur's cock and the sudden press of his fingers inside Arthur.

Arthur gives himself over to Merlin, gives himself until his need, his arousal, and his longing crest and overcome his senses.

~

Merlin holds magic inside him like Arthur holds a sword and shield, like he holds Camelot in his hands and heart.

~

Merlin's tightening the straps on his armor and he could be getting ready to enter a tournament, about to rush headlong into the melee, about to--

No. Arthur doesn't need the whisper in his ear and along his skin to realize that it's been three years since Merlin left Camelot, longer since he performed the duties of Arthur's bodyservant.

"Now, wake up. I'll be waiting for you."

Arthur draws his sword out from the stone.

~

Arthur awakes to the impossible scent of apple blossoms and warm rain; even as he breathes it in, the scent dissipates and leaves behind the rawness of the winter morning.

"I dreamt about you."

"I know." Pale sunlight slants over Merlin's shoulder and catches the blue of his eyes as he glances at Arthur from his seat at the edge of the bed. "I was dreaming, too."

"Have you come home?"

Merlin smiles. "I have."


End file.
